Towards Your New Home...Underground (6)

The trees silently bid you farewell as the path opens way for you and your familiar surroundings surrender you to your fate. Your white shroud is being tossed and blown about by the wind, which pushes you towards your destination. Your loved ones carry you along towards your new home with a keen drive and determination to surrender you to your fate in compliance to the command of the Last Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him). Tears incessantly flow down their cheeks, in unison with the falling rain from the heavily laden clouds that also bid you farewell and were a witness over you within the life of this world. Yet, the darkness emitting from the clouds is unlike the darkness that will engulf you soon in your grave.

Unlike the clouds, the women of your household and your beloved sisters in faith can not follow you to your burial. This is because, as Umm Atiyyah (may Allah be pleased with her) elucidated,

“…it was forbidden for us to follow funeral processions” (Saheeh al Bukhaari).

All they can do is watch your funeral procession from afar with tears, bidding you farewell for the last time and left with memories which will slowly fade away over time.

Your family will feel for some time the gnawing emptiness that your room and home will emit due to your lack of presence therein. They will remember your laughter, words and mannerisms. But like most people to have walked the face of this earth, you will also soon be forgotten, unless Allah wills otherwise. For Allah (Almighty) gives respect to whomsoever He wills of His slaves, as some good deeds have an ongoing heavy affect upon the balance of an individual’s good deeds.

The men of your family have hurriedly made arrangements to place you within the dark, murky soil as you were being washed and prepared for your burial. Now, you will truly be alone - your only friends the mud, insects and your deeds, be they good or evil. YES! The same soil that if it was placed over you while you were alive, would have filled your heart with fear and disgust, so much so that you would have rushed to clean, wash and rid yourself of it as soon as possible. The same insects that if they were placed in your hand or on your body, you would have reflexively flung, rid and thrown them off of yourself. The same grave that if you had been placed in you would have jumped out of it in fright, and sought shelter with your loved ones.

But now, it’s too late…

From it YOU were Created and to it YOU will Return

No-one can help you; only Allah (the Almighty) can truly help you. Finally you have come to realize that you are indeed in need of His Mercy and Help. If only you had realized before that true friendship is the friendship with the Divine and that true accomplishment is the accomplishment of fear, hope and love for Allah (the Glorious) and that everything will perish, except the Face of your Lord, the Subtle and All-Aware.

When a person dies there is reckoning without action, whereas today, for those of us who are alive, it is action without reckoning. Let’s turn towards Allah, and strive for His Deen before the earth fills our mouths and noses.

NOW the reality of Sajdah (prostration) hits you. Those who had prostrated to Allah in this world, by placing their foreheads upon the very ground in which man will be buried, had in reality openly declared war against satan. The same satan who had disobeyed his Lord in this regard and had as a result been banished; destined to the eternally raging, enormous fires of hell.

The pious Muslimah, whilst prostrating, continuously reminds herself of the fleeting nature of this world and that she is to return to the same earth towards which she prostrated repetitively during her short days in this life given by Allah, the Glorious and Merciful. If Allah had willed, He wouldn’t have created us. He (the Almighty) could have given us non-existence. But instead He (the Creator) gave us life and with that He gave us the opportunity to draw close to Him…truly something that is only gifted to a few. Ah! But man is ungrateful - man is indeed ungrateful.

Now, this very ground, upon which the Muslimah surrenders by way of prostration her very heart, body and mind has now become a new home in which she is to be surrendered. But do our Salawaat (prayers) remind us of this fact? Reality will come to light when we will be surrendered to the earth, from which we have been created and to which we will certainly be returned.

Dear Sisters,today, let’s pick up the earth and imagine being a part of it. Imagine the earth filling our ears and noses. All praise is due to Allah alone, for when we contemplate over this, we will come to realize our true worth and the Great and True Magnanimity of our Lord above.

How many of us have witnessed a death, burial or seen the corpse of another human being? If so, how many of us have been affected and reminded of the hereafter by it? If we were affected, how long did its effect linger in our hearts? Today, when we discuss death, or contemplate over it and remind others of it, we may be accused of having a strange and morbid fascination with death. Even though the Prophet (peace be upon him) said,

“O People! Remember much the destroyer of pleasures, death”(at-Tirmidhi).

The Messenger (peace be upon him) also said,

"Visit the sick and walk with the Janazah (funeral procession), it will remind you of the hereafter"(Muslim).

Dear Sisters, if we don’t contemplate over our reality and where we are heading, how will we effectuate the command of the Prophet (peace be upon him) when he said,

“Be in this world as a traveler or stranger” (Bukhaari).

What would you think of someone on a train, who needs help towards his destination but hates to mention and think about where he is going? How will his journey be if he does not keep his destination in mind?

SURELY, he will go astray.

***

This day had appeared so far like a dream,

Distant and remote it had truly seemed.

You hated to speak about it, frowned and deemed,

The grave and its’ accountability to be something

far and unseen.

But today you are being taken towards it.

It awaits you: dark, murky, dim and unlit.

By the angels, some within it, will be beaten and hit,

But others…will have for them their graves lit.

So don’t frown when you hear the mention of death,

For the believer awaits their good deeds, their true wealth.

By means of hard work and ignoring the disobedient’s stealth,

Also, by forsaking riches, comfort and health.

Face reality.

Look forward steadily.

Work for that day and don’t be cowardly.

Be as a Muslim should be, towards your Lord turning devotedly.

Tomorrow you may be lying in your grave,

Even if you’ve got the world under your feet and its’ riches saved.

For, the time is close when we will be asked about how we behaved,

In the life of this world, even if we were imprisoned and enslaved,

By the rules of the Kuffaar, dominated and caved.

None will be excluded, but such will be saved,

Who held high the flag of Islaam and it they passionately waved,

Within the transient life of this world…

right until they reached their grave.

Witnesses FOR or AGAINST You.

Today, we see a common trend, especially within our youth that we shouldn’t care about what others say or think about us. This idea of “Do whatever you want” and “It’s my life” and so on. It is true, that the believer should not take to heart what others say about him/her if s/he is on the straight path, in which case s/he should have thick skin and persist in overcoming its arduous struggles. However, if a person is being reprimanded for something which s/he has done against the commands of the Sharee’ah, then s/he should use this censure to change for the best. The Muslimah should have a pro-active attitude towards it and view it as being constructive criticism.

The Prophet (peace be upon him) has clearly explained how the very people around us will be witnesses for or against us on the day of judgement. When a funeral procession passed by the Prophet (peace be upon him) and the people praised the deceased, the Prophet said,

“It has been affirmed (Paradise).”

Then when another funeral procession passed by and the people spoke badly of the deceased, the Prophet said,

“It has been affirmed (hell)”.

Rasoolullah (peace be upon him) was then asked, “O Allah's Apostle! You said it has been affirmed for both?" To which the Prophet (peace be upon him) said,

"The testimony of the people (is accepted), (for) the believers are Allah's witnesses on the earth" (Saheeh al Bukhaari).

So remember, Allah (the Mighty and Glorious) has made the earth and the people within it witnesses for or against you. Take heed of the words a famous poet once said:

Today, let’s make a change before it’s too late. Let’s be sincere towards our Lord, and not fear the blame of those who falsely blame. Let’s realize our mistakes and be wise in accepting criticism when and if it is due. Let’s work for Allah’s Deen sincerely and though we seek Allah’s countenance, we must remember that He has placed witnesses over us who will speak for us or against us.

Abû Dharr al-Ghifârî and Mu'âdh b. Jabal (may Allaah be pleased with them) related that the Prophet (peace be upon him) said: "Fear Allah wherever you are. Follow up a bad deed with a good deed and it will blot it out. And deal with people in ...